<P>America's fragmented, decentralized, politicized, and bureaucratic system of education governance is a major impediment to school reform. In this important new book, a number of leading education scholars, analysts, and practitioners show that understanding the impact of specific policy changes in areas such as standards, testing, teachers, or school choice requires careful analysis of the broader governing arrangements that influence their content, implementation, and impact.</P><P> <I>Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century</I> comprehensively assesses thestrengths and weaknesses of what remains of the old in education governance, scrutinizes how traditional governance forms are changing, and suggests how governing arrangements might be further altered to produce better educational outcomes for children.</P><P>Paul Manna, Patrick McGuinn, and their colleagues provide the analysis and alternativesthat will inform attempts to adapt nineteenth and twentieth century governance structures to the new demands and opportunities of today.</P><P>Contents? Who Leads When Everyone Is in Charge? McGuinn / Manna </P><P>The Problem ? The Failures of U.S. Education Governance Today, Chester E. Finn Jr. / Michael J. Petrilli (Fordham Institute)? How the Current Governance of Education Inhibits Better Uses of Resources, Marguerite Roza (University of Washington)? Governance Challenges to Innovators within the System, Michelle R. Davis (Education Week)? Governance Challenges to Innovators outside the System, Steven F. Wilson (Ascend Learning)</P><P> Traditional Institutions in Flux? The End of Educational Exceptionalism, Jeffrey Henig (Columbia University)? Rethinking District Governance, Frederick Hess (AEI) / Olivia Meeks (D.C. Public Schools)? Interstate Governance of Standards and Testing, Kathryn McDermott (U Mass-Amherst)? Federal Role and Challenges of Governance in Performance-Based Federalism, Kenneth Wong (Brown University)</P><P>Lessons from Other Nations and Sectors? English Perspectives, Sir Michael Barber (Pearson)? Education Governance in Comparative Perspective, Michael Mintrom (Monash University) / Richard Walley (New Zealand Ministry of Education)? Governance Lessons from Health Care and the Environment, Barry Rabe (University of Michigan) </P><P>Paths Forward? Toward a Coherent and Fair Funding System, Cynthia G. Brown (CAP)? Picturing a Different Governance Structure, Paul Hill (University of Washington)? Governance Reform: From Theory to Results, Kenneth Meier (Texas A& M)? The Tall Task and National Imperative of Education</P>